After
🤯 asked about everyone’s avatars, I was inspired to revisit this match and that was the inspiration for creating this thread.
AJW DREAM SLAM I (4/2/93)
“Dangerous Queen Ketteisen”
Akira Hokuto (AJW) vs. Shinobu Kandori (LLPW)
BackgroundAll Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (AJW) began in 1968 and could be traced back to the first Japanese women's wrestling promotion in 1948. From its founding, it was the only women’s promotion in Japan for almost two decades, with stars like the Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato & Maki Ueda), Jaguar Yokota, Devil Masami, Dump Matsumoto & the Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka). AJW became targeted at teenage girls with the late 70s success of portraying the Beauty Pair as
idols. They wrestled,
released songs and even
starred in a film – the prototype for an even more successful team to come, in the mid-to-late 80s, the Crush Gals. As a result of this direction, AJW introduced an enforced retirement policy once you reached 25 years of age in an attempt to keep their top stars more relatable to their audience. As you can imagine, this did not sit right with many of the wrestlers being forced to.
With only one promotion and many great wrestlers being forced out of it, there was a clear opportunity to create a rival, especially with the popularity of women’s wrestling due to the Crush Gals. In 1986, Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (JWP) was founded with former Beauty Pair member Jackie Sato, who had been forced to retire 5 years prior, as the star and Atsushi Onita as one of the coaches. Then, in 1990, Onita introduced women’s wrestling to his newly founded Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) promotion. Many of the female wrestlers in these two independent promotions were those who did not make it through the AJW dojo or did not achieve success once they had debuted. After years of internal struggle between the “shooters” and “entertainers”, JWP split into Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling (LLPW) and JWP Joshi Puroresu (a new JWP) respectively in early 1992 and there were now four women’s promotions. You had the mainstream AJW and the three outsider independents JWP, LLPW and FMW. A new era of Japanese women’s wrestling was about to begin in 1992. The interpromotional era.
Former Bull Nakano fan club organiser and now All Japan Women’s wrestler Hisako Uno became renowned for her toughness in 1987 after
having her neck legit broken on a second-rope Tombstone in a tag match and continuing to wrestle, including receiving a piledriver. Upon her return from that injury, she changed her ring name to Akira Hokuto and was booked to win the #1 contender Japan Grand Prix tournament in 1990. However, she
legit destroyed her knee on the rail while going for a plancha in her opening match and though she tried to continue, the officials were forced to stop her and award the win to her opponent. She returned from that injury with her hair bleached, along with stylised make-up, and would often come to the ring brandishing a sword and wearing a demon mask. She was now “The Dangerous Queen”.
Shinobu Kandori was a World Championship bronze medallist in Judo in 1984 before entering the world of pro wrestling. Her character was an arrogant martial artist who belittled pro wrestling and claimed she could easily beat the top stars. She joined JWP, headlining its first show against Jackie Sato in 1986. The following year, after tensions had grown between the pair, Kandori
shot on Sato in a match, causing the humiliated star to retire from the ring for good while Kandori left the company. She unsuccessfully attempted to join AJW before working as a freelancer, often still in JWP. When the 1992 split occurred, Sato led the “entertainer” side to form the new JWP and Kandori the “shooter” side to co-found LLPW.
Interpromotional feuds had proven tremendously successful for both All Japan Pro Wrestling (vs. Choshu’s JPW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (vs. UWF) back in the mid-to-late 80s. So in 1992, the mainstream AJW started feuds with each of the three outsider feds. In June, FMW’s top female stars Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo called out AJW’s Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto and the first interpromotional match was set for FMW’s 3rd Anniversary Show on September 19th.
Bull/Akira won in a fiery match and things were off and running. Two months later, would come a landmark show on November 26th, featuring a AJW vs. FMW tag, a AJW vs. JWP tag and LLPW wrestlers in the crowd –
AJW Dream Rush. On this show, Hokuto defeated Kyoko Inoue to win the All Pacific Title (AJW’s secondary belt) and
post-match she called out Kandori and her crew, who were in attendance, and the LLPW wrestlers stormed to ringside for a confrontation.
The in-ring AJW vs. LLPW war began on January 24th as Hokuto and her crew defeated Kandori’s crew in an intense six-woman tag while Kandori watched from the crowd. Post-match trash-taking ensued and Kandori came to the ring, which resulted in a
pull-apart brawl before Kandori later
confronted Hokuto in her dressing room and I presume challenged her to the match. All Japan Women’s 25th anniversary was approaching and two cards were planned for 9 days apart to commemorate it –
AJW Dream Slam I and
II. On April 2nd,
Dream Slam I was to be a show full of interpromotional matches and would feature the first singles matches of this era, one of which was Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori.
It was to be mainstream vs. outsider. Pro wrestler vs. shooter. The gutsiest wrestler with a history of horrible injuries vs. the legit judoka who sent a former idol into retirement. Hokuto may not be AJW’s top star but she most embodies its slogan “Victory Through Guts”. She is looking to defend the honour of her promotion on its 25th anniversary while Kandori is looking to stick it to the company that she was never able to join, having been an outsider her entire career. Ketteisen basically means decider so the tagline of the match means that this is to decide the true Dangerous Queen - Hokuto’s identity and reputation is at stake, but so is Kandori’s.
MatchThe shooter Kandori wears only a robe to the ring, whereas the pro wrestler Hokuto is in full “Dangerous Queen” garb, complete with demon mask and sword.
I like the little touch of Hokuto and then Kandori refusing to be checked by the ref for foreign objects at first. Whether the idea was not wanting checked before the other or just not wanting to be touched, it gives a “don’t fuck with me” vibe right off the bat. When they do allow the ref to perform his requisite duties, we get some fantastic death glaring across the ring.
Both trash talk and goad each other to come in to start the match and Hokuto forearms Kandori down HARD, getting a great reaction from the crowd, who will be with them the whole way. Hokuto then gets on the mic Jerry Lawler-style and runs down her opponent, accusing the former judoka of playing at being a pro wrestler and having no passion for it.
Kandori responds by attempting to rip Hokuto’s arm off. Hokuto leaves her arm behind her back to give the impression it has been dislocated. It has to be popped back into place at ringside, while Kandori continues to check on her jaw in the ring.
Kandori goes for the arm and Hokuto works hard to avoid another full submission being locked in, but she needs to do something to change this up, so takes Kandori to the outside and attempts a tombstone piledriver on a ringside table, but Kandori reverses and plants Hokuto with one of her own – the move that broke her neck six years prior. In a brilliant shot, the camera zooms in on a dent in the table from Hokuto’s head (doesn’t matter that it was almost certainly due to Kandori’s knee).
So far, everything has been nasty and hate-filled, exactly what you want from an interpromotional bout. Hokuto is struggling to recover and get back in the ring, as the ref screams at her if she wants to give up. She has been busted wide open from the table piledriver and is beginning to look like Carrie. I feel it almost goes without saying that this may be the most dramatic opening 8 minutes to a match ever.
Back in the ring, Kandori lands repeated kicks to Hokuto’s head, but a third is one too many and Hokuto counters. Seeing her chance and fuelled with rage, she grabs Kandori and takes her out into the crowd, ramming her face into the chairs and barricades. We get a nice wide shot that zooms in to show them lost among the people, giving a nice chaotic feel.
With a chance for some recovery and the ref beckoning them back, Hokuto’s crew direct her away from Kandori and towards the ring. Kandori also returns, busted open as well now, but it is a trickle, giving a nice contrast to Hokuto’s crimson mask. Kandori looks like how normal bleeds look, putting Hokuto’s even more over the top.
The pro wrestler had taken the shooter to the outside, out of her comfort zone, and can now further exploit the ailing Kandori with a series of nasty kicks to the face, the first of which (giffed here) is in my avatar. When she gets too fancy and goes for a spin kick, Kandori catches her and shoves her down.
With an opening presenting itself, Kandori picks Hokuto up in a suplex and dumps her unceremoniously over the top rope, before quickly following it up with an unexpected plancha - the shooter is already feeling the need to go outside of her norm. It was not the most graceful, but proved effective.
Back in, Kandori goes for the arm but Hokuto makes the ropes. Hokuto manages to connect with her spin kick this time and both are feeling and selling the effects of the match. But Hokuto has been through the most and deserves special praise, as her facials and body language express her condition so well.
Hokuto misses a spin kick, which rather than coming across like a botch, looks like a genuine miss that could come from a tired participant in a fight, and Kandori immediately pounces, attempting a leg submission before Hokuto makes the ropes. After nailing a couple of nasty punches to the head, Kandori goes for the arm again, but Hokuto fights for her life, clinching her hands together.
After trading some submission attempts, Hokuto gets the chance to go up top and hits a big splash. It takes too much out of her to attempt to hold Kandori’s shoulders to the mat, so she crawls slowly to the other corner and attempts another, only to meet Kandori’s knees.
In a nice little spot, Kandori grabs Hokuto’s arm briefly, as if she is going to attack it again and then shifts to the waist and delivers a powerbomb instead. Kandori is annoyed by the kickout and slaps Hokuto on the head. This annoyance leads to a mistake on her part as she scales the ropes and attempts essentially a big fat nothing, which Hokuto swats away. Normally this would be hated by me, but here it completely works because she looked like she did not know what she was doing. And she should not, as that is not her game. She got away with the plancha earlier, but not this.
Hokuto lands a German before scaling the ropes, as a big move off the top might be her best chance to turn the tide. But Kandori catches her and yanks her down and just starts swinging her by the neck in a tremendous looking spot, before cinching in a choke and just going wild in it. Hokuto grabs the hair and kicks at the head to break it before the determined Kandori reapplies. After a long struggle, Hokuto manages to make the ropes. If she was being more level-headed, this would be a chance for Kandori to go for the arm, but she is starting to lose her composure. Winning strategies often get abandoned or forgotten about in the heat of the moment. Hokuto is refusing to quit and Kandori just wanted to choke the life out of her.
Kandori has been in charge for the majority of this match with Hokuto fighting to hang on, but Hokuto is used to gritting things out. Kandori is tough in the sense of being a badass who dishes out punishment. Hokuto is tough in the sense of taking all the punishment and never giving up. Kandori is showing her frustration. It is becoming a war of attrition and the shooter may be starting to wear down.
Kandori goes for another powerbomb but Hokuto has it scouted this time and counters with a hurricanranna in another nice example of learned psychology. She manages to hit a powerbomb of her own, followed by a spin kick that knocks Kandori to the floor. Hokuto musters up enough to hit a tope con hilo, which looks particularly violent with her getting great speed on the rotation. Hokuto then crawls back into the ring and reaches down into her reserves to hit a top rope dropkick to the floor while one of her crew holds Kandori in place – she needs all the help she can get. That took almost as much out of her as her opponent, but it gives her a break from the punishment, as both are near their limit on the floor.
Hokuto calls for her finisher the Northern Lights Bomb, but that bit of pro wrestling playing to the crowd for approval costs her and Kandori rolls through and goes for the arm, but Hokuto desperately writhes to try to get to the ropes. After the set-up in the opening minutes, every time Kandori goes for the arm, the crowd buy that it could be the finish. Just to add an extra touch of tension to this incredibly dramatic match, she reaches for and touches the turnbuckle pad to get the break but the pad is not the rope and the ref correctly does not break until she grabs it.
After a Tiger Driver and a back of the head clothesline, Kandori just slaps Hokuto down and taunts her. Hokuto had been playing to the crowd a moment ago and now the shooter wants to act the tough guy. Rather than finishing the job, she is making a classic arrogant mistake and Hokuto counters her next attack, landing a suplex for a nearfall.
Hokuto again calls for but this time also hits her Northern Lights Bomb but Kandori kicks out of her finisher. She goes for one more but Kandori counters and decides to do a bit of finisher stealing and hits one of her own. Hokuto has been hit with her own move, by an outsider, on the mat bearing her promotion’s logo, on the show to celebrate its 25th anniversary. She will not allow herself to be pinned in such a manner and musters the strength to kick out.
On top of the rest of the match, both have now been levelled with a Northern Lights Bomb and the effects are setting in. They struggle to their feet and Hokuto lands a big right hand, felling Kandori but collapsing herself. They struggle to their feet again and this time Kandori levels Hokuto with a right before falling to her knees.
Both struggle up one last time and land simultaneous right hands to the face. Hokuto crawls over and gets the 1-2-3.
Did Hokuto get the better of the stereo punch? Or did she just have that bit more inside to still be able to crawl over and make the pin? Either way, her performance overall could not have been a better demonstration of her company’s slogan. Victory Through Guts indeed.
*****AftermathAt
AJW Dream Slam II, 9 days later, these two would meet again in a tag featuring Aja Kong as Hokuto’s partner and Eagle Sawai as Kandori’s . The match finished with Hokuto going for revenge by attempting to rip Kandori’s arm off and
Kandori turning the tables and dislocating it again, causing the ref to stop the match. Between this tag and their rematch, Hokuto would attempt to go after the ace Aja Kong and her WWWA World Title but typically would legit injure her knee before the match. The match went ahead (and Kong won) because Hokuto is all heart, but she insisted the title not be on the line, so as to not tarnish it with her likely limited challenge. At the same time, Kandori started a feud with the former AJW ace Bull Nakano. The Hokuto/Kandori rematch occurred on December 6th at
AJW St. Battle Final where,
while her crew cried and held each other back, Kandori destroyed Hokuto with an uppercut to get the pinfall. It was well-known that Hokuto was pushing her body beyond its limits and the emotion from her stablemates was not simply good acting. She would only wrestle on three AJW shows in 1994 and each was treated as if it could be her last. The first of these would see the end of the Hokuto/Kandori story on March 27th at
AJW Wrestling Queendom. The match was voted for by fans and pitted the ultimate joshi monster team of Aja Kong & Bull Nakano, who had begun teaming towards the end of their near 3-year feud which saw Kong supplant Nakano as the company ace, against fierce enemies Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori. In order to survive, the rivals would need to do what their opponents had previously done and come together as a team. Hokuto had past history as both a partner and rival of Nakano and had her injury-stricken attempt at Kong the prior year. Kandori had a hot feud across the ring in Bull but also in her own corner with Hokuto. At the beginning of the match, they started fighting with each other over who will start the match, would tag each other in with slaps to the face and would do little to help the other when in trouble. But as the match wore on and they were getting destroyed by the monsters, they would learn to work together as a team, climaxing with Hokuto getting her big pin over Kong. Post-match, with Kandori leaning on the ropes and Hokuto on her knees, Hokuto put her hand out. The stoic Kandori teased leaving, before
slapping her hand with a slight smirk on her face. Mutual respect had been earned.
ConclusionThis was a match that changed my perception of what women’s wrestling could be when I first saw it in the mid-00s. I was blown away by the intensity, the hatred, the violence, the blood and the drama. It has lost none of its potency for me. Even when I only knew the bare bones of the story, I thought it was one of the greatest matches I had ever seen. Discovering the rich history of their characters, their feud and joshi puroresu in general has only enhanced it.
These women put a sense of fight and struggle into practically everything they did. They made you feel their hatred for each other. They made you feel their pain, determination and exhaustion. They acted in ways that made sense to their characters and demonstrated their personalities. They paced it just right to give everything time to breath. They told a phenomenal and dramatic story, filled with incredible visuals and masterful selling, and both came out of it enhanced. Kandori looked like one bad bitch and Hokuto looked like the gutsiest wrestler around, to her own detriment.
Even though there are many great ones, this is still the greatest women’s wrestling match that I have ever seen and among the select handful of greatest wrestling matches full stop. When you get into the elite of the elite and begin talking about something being #1, nit picking becomes inevitable. This match does feature some walk and brawl into the crowd, which is pretty much universally awful. Even though it worked for me in this match in the sense of taking Kandori out into where she is not comfortable to get some revenge and to get the upper hand, whenever anyone grabs their opponent by the head and just walks with them, there will be at least some mild deductions. The finish was absolutely perfect for the story of the match and I can only imagine how awful it would've been if they blew off all their work and went for some big, high-energy, climactic ending. But when other elite matches have such an ending that fits, it is something that could help push them over the top at Hokuto/Kandori's expense.
From memory,
Emperor isn’t too keen on this match but there is a simple reason behind that – he’s wrong.
